The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

Last Monday's "True Ghosts of History" bonus at the end of our doomed post HERE was indeed (as Brian Barnes pointed out), based on a a very well documented haunting that took place in the 1830's, though the actual origins of The Brown Lady, aka The Grim Lady story itself goes as far back as the sixteen and seventeen hundreds. (CLICK HERE for more information from the eerie Wikipedia entry.) And alas, the great King Ward version you saw last week was just one of three filler comic book adaptations uniquely rendered over the years and telling the terrifyin' tale of poor Dorothy Walpole's wandering apparition. Our first version below is from DC's "Tales of the Haunted and the Damned!"  a then new series of true stories (concerning cursed castles, haunted houses, and macabre mansions) and originally appeared, in this case, in the Feb. 1974 issue of Ghosts #23. Also included below-- the infamous "real" photo of damned Dorothy descending the 'ol staircase of Raynham Hall, --and finally, another illustrated version, this time as a one-page quickie from the April 1953 issue of Adventures into Darkness #9, though this scan was actually already posted at THOIA way back in 2010 HERE!

The Worm Turns! / Pretty Poison

We're back with a squirmy double header of slimy fun (plus: Slim Jims for everyone!) --from the Jan-Feb 1978 issue of House of Mystery #256! Yes, 70's DC horror occasionally tapped the gag reflex nicely, as so with these two slitherin' tales of terror that'll leave you gagging for mo-- >>ARRGGHH!!<<  More from this issue coming up in our next post-- see ya on Halloween!

Death is a Dummy in Disguise

Added a Howdy Doody dummy to my son's ever growing ventriloquist doll collection this xmas... he's got quite a weird little army amassing-- and the wife says they give her the heebie jeebies! Now for you guys, I also have a ventriloquist related present, a story with an equally weird bit of "unexpected" heebie jeebies --as well as the creeps! From the March 1974 issue of The Unexpected #156.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Phony Face! / Skin Deep

We haven't had a Double (Be)Header around here in a while, in fact, let's call this one a "Face-Off!" shall we? We pit DC's House of Mystery against their own House of Secrets in a no holds barred match of tales sharing a similar theme. Which one comes out on top? Our first story is from the August 1972 issue of HoM #205, while the opposing yarn is from the April 1973 issue of HoS #107.

Village of the Vile

The June 1974 issue of The Witching Hour #43 clearly states on the cover "Village of Evil", but instead inside the lead-off story is "Village of the Vile", one of the many cool horror tales written by George Kashdan for DC Comics (and to make things even more memorable the art is provided by the great Alfred P. Alcala!) We're winding down Devilcember, and this is it for our "Flash Forward" detour into the Satanic Silver Age, as well as our shiver inducing glimpse into The Witching Hour series, hope everyone enjoyed it!

Eegads--- more cat cruelty?!! Maybe it really is time to end this Witching Hour fest! It is interesting though to note how popular Satanism was in mainstream comics during this era. Hell, even Superman and Lois Lane turned up the heat in a few issues!

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Vintage AD